A'S NOTEBOOK / McDonald on DL -- Groin

Steve Kettmann

Published 4:00 am, Monday, April 20, 1998

The A's placed center fielder Jason McDonald on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a strained groin muscle and called up Ryan Christenson. He will join the A's in time for tonight's game against Minnesota.

"What can you do?" an exasperated general manager Billy Beane wondered. "When young players get hurt, you tend to notice it more."

McDonald hit .319 for the A's last September and that was enough to win the starting job going into the season, even though he hit .206 this spring and Christenson hit .349. Because Christenson had only 16 games of Triple-A experience at that point, the A's stuck with McDonald -- and saw the move pay off. He's hitting .333 and leads the team with six stolen bases, tying him for third in the American League.

"You can protect a hamstring," trainer Larry Davis said. "You can protect a quad. You can't protect a groin. There's no way to wrap it."

McDonald actually felt worse yesterday than he did on Saturday after injuring himself running out a double. That sealed his fate.

"It's never easy to sit out," McDonald said. "It kind of throws you off your rhythm. But if you start out slow, it worries you more."

The A's are upset about losing McDonald, especially given his strong start. But they wanted to get a look at Christenson some month soon, so the development is not without its upside.

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